Vaping in Japan

[battersea8]

Greetings,

This is my first post on the forum.

I travel to Japan every year and will be retuning this October. However, I was a smoker on all of my previous visits.

I quit smoking and have been vaping for almost a year now.

As for Japan, my biggest concern is will I attract negative attention as a vapor? I am aware that vaping is not very popular in Japan. I am not too concerned about my time in Tokyo, but about the time I will spending in smaller, rural areas such as Kamikochi. Well, actually even about Kyoto.

I understand that I must abide by the same rules for smokers and that I am only allowed to bring in 120ml of e-juice.

Just concerned about any negative vibes and how to avoid them (it can already be awkward just being a foreigner, gaijin, in Japan).

If you have any experience with this, I would very much appreciate any feedback and advice.

 

[Katmar]

Welcome to the forum and let's bump you up and hope someone can help. Good luck...

 

[Susan~S]

Hello and welcome to the forum battersea8. Glad to have you here!

Check out this forum: Japan Forum.
I'll tag @Spencer87, one of our Moderators who lives in Japan. Hopefully he'll pop in when he's around.

 

[Siouxinpa]

From my experiences, to the Japanese gaijin are gaijin. No matter what you do, to some Japanese it'll be a negative and proof of their superiority and to others it will be a quirky gaijin thing. (Oh those silly gaijin always doing these things he he he)

As long as you follow the rules in place I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[shironeko]

It's still relatively unknown here. There are a few B&Ms here (with vastly inflated prices) and the kind of image they portray is what they call "Yanki"
It's seen as pretty much a fad from the U.S.
As for how acceptable it is. I only ever vape where smoking is allowed. I have had many many strange looks, but, as you can imagine, no one has objected to it.
The only advice I can give is to bring enough supplies with you to last your trip as everything vape related is very expensive. I import all my vape stuff, it works out way cheaper (kinda weird that importing Sony VCT4s is way cheaper than buying here, there was one shop on the Amazon market place selling them for about 50bucks for a pair!!!!)
Japanese cotton is cheap as hell though!!! So you could probably stock up on that when you're over.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[proteckt3d]

Good luck with your trip and stay there From my experience, when staying in an area where you have limited sources for e-cig supplies, pack double the amount you would normally need for the period of time being away because of high probability of unplanned circumstances Just make sure you don't exceed the liquid limits for you hand luggage and also don't pack a lot of gear in there as it might look strange to a non vaper. And even if they give you a though time at customs you can always explain nicely how you use them and in the worst case I would expect they can only hold on to some of them but than didn't happen to me yet, granted every airport can have different policies on this, so just adjust to the situation if it happens.

 

[Diver9543]

It has been 30 years since I lived in Japan. I can't help you, however, I am a bit envious of you returning there. Now, as I'm more mature, there are many things I wish I had done while living in Japan. Enjoy your trip.

 

[battersea8]

Thank you everyone for your replies. Much appreciated!

@Susan-S, thank you! I saw the Japan Forum yesterday, but as I am a new member, I was not allowed to post there.


@Siouxinpa , Having been subjected to many gaijin-phobic folks in Japan over the years, I kind of figured this might be the reaction to gaping there. After 10 years of traveling to Japan, I could probably write a book on the relationship between the Japanese and foreigners, but I won't. Suffice it to say that I stopped wearing "rose-tinted lenses",that so many travelers go to Japan with, a long time ago. Still, it is my continued love of the nature and aesthetic culture of Japan that keeps drawing me back.

@shironeko,@Katmar , @proteckt3d , and @Diver9543 , Thank you all for your input!

 

[battersea8]

Yikes, an ironic slip….gaping was meant to read vaping. The automatic spell-check on my computer automatically switches vaping to gaping.

 

[Spencer87]

Hmm. Well.... Vaping is accepted... people mainly mind their own business here. Just Rule of thumb, Dont vape on the trains.... or while walking down a non smoking street.
Vape close to the smoking areas, Although not in them, as thats unhealthy.

But the onyl reactions I get are interest.
bigger community of Japanese are starting to vape. Its becoming popular here.

vaping is allowed. Nicotine juice needs to be imported from overseas for personal use only

 

[battersea8]

Hi Spencer,

Thank you for your reply.

When I was a smoker and traveling on the Shinkansen, I would use the enclosed smoking 'rooms' located in between certain carriages. Is vaping not allowed in those areas?

I would certainly prefer not to be in an enclosed smoking area as I can no longer stand the smell of cigarettes; however, I have two long train journeys on this next trip and I may get a craving for a vape.

 

[Spencer87]

Hi Spencer,

Thank you for your reply.

When I was a smoker and traveling on the Shinkansen, I would use the enclosed smoking 'rooms' located in between certain carriages. Is vaping not allowed in those areas?

I would certainly prefer not to be in an enclosed smoking area as I can no longer stand the smell of cigarettes; however, I have two long train journeys on this next trip and I may get a craving for a vape.

yea, I took the Shink a couple months ago. I went in there to Vape.
mind it was a little cramped with one other person there.
So its either that, Or stealth vaping, which also works well on the shink.